Verizon (UTStarcom) XV6700 has arrived!

TheForce

SatelliteGuys Master
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Oct 13, 2003
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Jacksonville, FL, Earth
Scott- You mentioned you took your Treo 700w back in exchange for the XV6700. As planned here, My wife likes her Treo 700w as she is getting results with everything she needed. I had several issues with it and thus the reason I chose the 6700 over the Treo for my use. I picked it up at a local CC store after visiting a half dozen Verizon places in town to find one in stock.

Treo has very little ram to do any real work with it. Has no easy way to access wifi connections without losing SD storage ram. Camera is good quality but limited as it has no built in light of macro capability. The Keyboard is just too difficult for me to get used to. Finally the screen size is half what I had with my Ipaq and that is real hard to see.

The 6700 has resolved all of these issues for me and for that reason, after about 24 hours with it, I am pleased with the purchase. It does stuff noticeably faster since it has a faster processor. It handles lots of apps without needing a reboot as does my Ipaq and Treo 700w.

Now for what is most disappointing in the 6700-

Windows WM5 surprises-

Neither the Treo700w nor the XV6700 has a backup utility to create scheduled backups so if your battery runs dead or something happens and it doesn't boot, You can't just do a hard reset and withion 10 minutes be back where you were at last backup on your SD storage card. I have learned that this was just forgotten about by Microsoft. Shame on them! The good news is that Sprite is working on a WM5 version and there is another I got that works too for WM5 but these are 3rd party apps. I'm testing one now that is actually still in beta. We'll see...

The second major fu up from Microsoft WM5 team is the Blue Tooth is quite limited now since it fails to offer Hands free service for anything else except the phone. My Win 2003 on the IPAQ has an advanced setting that allows you to set all applications, in addition to the phone to the Hands Free services on the Blue Tooth. I am still researching work arounds on this but my suspicions are that the Blue Tooth may support stereo BT headsets on the 6700. The Treo 700w definitly does not because I checked with Palm on that. They are working on it for future upgrade.


Finally, the XV6700 and teh Treo 700w both have very low sound thru-put on Blue Tooth with my Motorola HS-850 and HS-810. I had the same problem with my IPAQ6315 when it first came out but the 6 month upgrade fixed that. However, the wake up time on the Treo and the 6700 is several times as fast as the Ipaq.

The 6700 has a real mini USB port which is nice but the manual says you must use their cable to double as a USB charging port. It comes with that cable so no big problem.

The screen size is about 80% of the Ipaq so I will learn to live with that. I do miss the larger screen size! The larger keyboard that slides out is a god-send, but for quick text, the popup keyboard is still the fastest for me since I learned on that with the Ipaq.

So, I would rate the Treo against the 6700 this way-

The Treo is for those who really don't want to do more internet stuff with a phone but their primary use is phone communications and want a one handed operation. The 6700 offers a bigger screen but actually smaller volume formfactor as it is shorter than the Treo, IT requires two hands to use but some functuions can be done with one hand. Faster and rteally meant for someone to have near laptop web power away from their laptop. The 6700 also supports fill BT EVDO connect to the Laptop for laptop broadband as well.


While the Treo 700w has a 6 month exclusive with Verison, the 6700 is not exclusive and actually was for Sprint. The Sprint version, I'm told is an earlier first release and the one made for Verison has some improvements. There is supposed to be a GSM version coming out soon as well so for you Cingular users, I heard around Feb 1st to mid month.
 
Hi Bob,

Have you used the USB Port on the Bottom for anything other than charging? I'm Wondering if I can hookup my Microsoft GPS(Pharos 360) to it for Inav like I do on my Sch-I700(with a special cable). Also do you have a USB Jump Drive or USB External Drive that you can test? Just wondering. I'll Be getting one as soon as taxes get filed and back.


Thanks In advance,
Cegarrett
 
More review info on the 6700

I'm continuing to discover the not so nice and what I'm doing about it stuff on this phone-

Coming from my ipaq 6315, I can't help but compare it and the big issue IS the blue tooth implementation.

I am really disappointed in how this phone is limited. I often had used BT to listen to my podcasts but the 6700 doesn't permit this feature. I tested the Jabra A210 BT transmitter that plugs into the stereo mini jack and this works not only for the limitation fix but also better as a phone BT function. It is better than the built in BT because it is much louder indiocating that the BT function built in is much limited in volume. The down side is that carrying this little Jabra box tethered to the 6700 is clunky and difficult but for in the case on my belt or just sitting on my desk while I wonder about the office, it solves the mp3 player BT need.

Also, I discovered a 3rd party media player that is much nicer than the built in WMP app. It's the freeware TCMP. The good thing is this tcmp also plays mp4 video files!
 
Don what is strange is sometimes the audio from the phone (like MP3's) does go over my Bluetooth and other times it does not.

I would like it to go over the bluetooth all the time since I have my ear piece in all the time.

I wonder if there is a program out there which can send the audio out to the bluetooth headset. If not someone should make one.

Also the ringer volume is very low, it would be great to have it ring in my ear as well besides the low beep I currently get.

Another issue with this phone is the battery life. Yesterday I had it on my desk and came to work with 100% battery life. I got 3 calls yesterday on the phone all less then 10 minutes and by 3:30pm I got an alert that my battery was low.

I know there is an extended battery for it, but I want one that comes with a black battery covery as they only come in silver now (for the Sprint PPC6700 which is the same phone)

I use GSplayer as it allows me to listen to streaming audio.

One of the things that is great about this phone is a service called ORB (orb.com) and it allows me to watch LIVE streaming television from my Windows Media Center PC at home. It beats the $9 a month I was paying for MobiTV on my Treo 650.

Last night I have started hacking the registry I can now leave the phone on while using WIFI which is cool although I have found no real reasons to use WIFI on the phone yet.

The EDVO is very cool and I am surprised how fast it is especially when I use the phone as a modem on my laptop, the internal Pocket IE does not let the phone show off the true speed of the new connection.

About the only thing missing from the phone that I want is Java support, even the Treo 650 had that.

A couple of great utils I have found for the phone are...

Microsoft Voice Command (Which was included on the Treo 700 but not the VX6700)
Magic Button (Lets you close out running programs easily)
Resco Exploerer and Registry Editor

I have had ZERO lockups of this phone while theyhappened 2 or 3 times a day to me on the Treo 700.

Other then the battery issue I am very happy with the phone.
 
I haven't noticed a battery issue yet but have yet to move my usage from the T-mobile 6315. Soon I will be doing that. So far the battery is lasting about as long as my Ipaq which was never great. The Ipaq has a larger battery that lasts about 18 hours under normal usage.

I've not had any lockkups yet either but the scuttle on the forums, this is a big issue directly related to the memory on the Treo 700w. Dave Sicconi of Mobility Today has made quite a stink of this with Palm and should have an answer from them soon, he says. So far all 3rd party attemps to piggyback a mod to upgrade the memory to what we have on the 6700 has failed.

Good deal on your Registry mod. maybe you CAN figure out how to activate the mp3 media via blue tooth. I'll have to get with you on that later.

I agree that overall, the sound volume is low, except for the speakerphone which seems just adequate. I filed a formal complaint on that with Verizon. Had the same issue originally with the IPAQ and T-Mobile/HP fixed that in a firmware upgrade.

I haven't added Voice Command yet. The version I have is purported to not work well with WM5 so I need to investigate an upgrade.

Back to battery life- How do you set the on - off time? Mine is set by me to shut down when it is not accessed for 3 minutes. It will always wake up with an inbound call.

When you decide to access the EVDO, you get that annoying alert screen up. I understand there is a registry hack that will make this go away much quicker too. Do you know what that is?

I tried wifi briefly but agree with you, with EVDO, don't really need it unless downloading huge podcasts.

Also for anyone who wants to play with the BT Jabra transmitter A210, it works well when paired to the Motorola HS850 phone.
 
Here is how to listen to audio over your Bluetooth Earpiece.

While the PDA screen is still on (at the Today Screen)
Press the button on your headset, it will turn on the connection.
Now Click anywhere on your PDA to make sure the "clicks" are heard on your headset.
Press the Bluetooth headset button a second time to close the audio connection.
 
But I want to listen to more than clicks! :)

I tried it and while I can hear the clicks, when I tap on an mp3 file for it to play, it just goes to the phones speaker and not the BT headset. All I hear there is the clicks while music is playing through the phone's speaker.
 
Question on wireless syncing the 6700

Hello,
I'm new to this forum but have found it a wealth of information on the VX6700. My TM contract is up in a few days and I've had a BB7100 for about a year now. It's been a good device, but I am ready to move to a device that will offer broadband access to my laptop as well. It appears the 6700 is a great fit, but I'm concerned about it syncing with my email, calendar, contacts, etc... like my BB does now. My company runs BES, but we also have a small user group who are using their Treos (650 and 700w) and are syncing fine through the vzw wirelesssync website thing. Will this also work if I get the 6700 or do I need to find another way to sync my data without having to connect it to my laptop? Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks again for all of the comments and great forum.
-Nick
 
I sync mine though the wirelesssync software, works great. :) I get notified about my emails within a few seconds of my home pc receiving them.
 
EVDO High Speed Laptop Access via BT?

Has anyone tried to use the EVDO highspeed access for your laptop (like a modem) via BT instead of tethering the device? Does it work? If so, is the connectivity comparable to having one of VZW's EVDO PCMCIA cards and that service? From what I've been told (and it may be false), the only device offered by VZW that can be used as an EVDO modem is the BB 6730 and even that has to be tethered, it cannot be used over BT. Again, all feedback is appreciated. Thanks.
-Nick
 
Scott- Here is a test I ran where I logged my XV6700 usage to see how long I would go before needing to recharge my battery:

Hour 0 - begin test by pulling off cradle charger after a 12 hour charge period

Usage 1:15 Hour Used to surf the net do some work and make one 15 minute call all with screen on.

In standby mode for 3 hours

Usage 1 hour

In standby mode for 2 hours

Usage 20 minutes phone calls

In standby for 1:30

Usage 2 hours Download some podcasts and file management load software etc.

In standby for 6 hours

Listen to podcast 2 hours

Battery warning came on

So, with intermittant usage, I got approximately 20 hours of standby / usage time where the screen was on at 75% level, BT was on as well. During the standby times, the 6700 would come on by itself each hour unless already on as triggered by my podcast aggregator update software. This means that it comes on each our and logsin to about 7 RSS feeds and updates for about 10 minutes waits about 3 minutes and if no activity goes into standby mode (screen off).

So, in the 20 hour period of battery life, I estimate I used the 6700 for about- 6:45 to 7 hours of screen on time.

I suspect my on time will greatly increase when I decide to switch my office phone line to my 6700. I still have all calls transferred to my Ipaq.

I think these PDA / Phone makers need to figure on a time between charge cycles of 10 hours with 5 hours of talk time to be safe. My IPAQ will keep up with the large battery 15-18hrs. but not the small standard one 6-7 hrs. Jury is still out for me with the Starcom 6700
 
OK Scott, Finally got it to work!

In a rather angry mood I went to work in this BT playing mp3's issue. I used the Don Landis method of experimental proceedure. I tried everything possible until I got it to work.

Here is what I had to do: In the HS850 setup in BT there are two services I had to activate. Serial port and Hands free. Originally, I only had Hands free checked. I checked both and reset the HS850 and Voila! tapped on an MP3 file and it launched WMP right through the HS850. Plenty of volume! with solid connection. It works as good as or better than my IPAQ.

I'm now a happy camper with this!
 
My new high capacity battery just arrived. Scott- Did you ever get your battery concerns squared away? I see that with lots of use my standard battery is needing recharge in about 7-8 hours. The wifi seems to be the fastest battery drainer so I use it now only when I want to download large files as it is 10 times as fast as my EVDO. Then I shut it off and use the EVDO for web surfing and e-mail.

I also ordered a 2G mini SD card but it hasn't arrived yet.


PS- the BT for mp3's is working without issue now that I found that connection secret. Funny, Verizon data support claims what I did doesn't work but then the guy tried it while I was on the phone with him. He was surprised as it seems to be an unsupported hack.
 
Don where did you get the battery pack? I have been looking but could only find the Sprint version with the Silver Battery Cover. I would rather have the matching black cover.

I have hacked my phone so I cause use the phone and Wifi at the same time. :)
 
Please comment on the battery life with that hack and compare with wifi only.

I ordered the Sprint battery. The silver back actually is quite complimentary as it matches the side silver finish. Not ugly at all. It does add a quarter inch to the thickness but that's life in the high capacity batteries I guess. Had the same issue with my HiCap battery on the IPAQ. Worth it if I can get 18 hours heavy use out of it.

For the record, can you post your procedure to turn on the wifi and phone simultaneously? Any disadvantages you observed with this besides obvious shorter battery life? Such as, with the hack maybe you can't control the phone and wifi independently and have to have both on. I would not like that. Or as one user reported on a forum, the wifi causes phone noise or maybe it was the phone call disrupting the wifi as in interferrence. Interested in your observations along these lines.

I ordered the battery from:
wirelessground.com cost $69 Free shipping, no tax and it arrived US mail in 2 days.

I ordered a 2G mini SD card too but that hasn't arrived yet. $129
 
Here is the hack to enable Wifi and the phone at the same time.

It also contains the hack which turns you phone into a modem as well as the cell phone modem driver for windows. (And you can use the phone as a modem over Bluetooth or the USB cable) :)
 

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Scott and Don,

I would like to hear your insights on the essential programs to add on to this phone. I really like the usability and all of the features of this phone.

Thanks in advance. And thanks for your guys for the detail reviews of the features.
 
The most useful I have added to pocket PC's is SPB. It allows a windows XP style desktop with one click icons to launch programs. With windows Mobile 5, you are still forced to launch applications using nested menus which to launch something like microsoft word you would need to tap start, tap programs and find Word to launch it. Also, with SPB you can launch an application from a desktop (today screen) icon of a file that is associated with the app like a *.doc will launch the Word app first with your file contained. There are other plugins for SPB as well and the favorite with EVDO users now is SPB weather which is a weather reporting 24/7.

Beyond that the next add-on I fond useful is still a beta program but it works well is Opera web browser. PIE is OK but it lacks media for the web like Flash, Java and others. Opera has this built in and it's FREE.

I also use Core a substitute media player that handles many of the media files that WM10 for mobile 5 can't handle like MP4 videos and AVI files.


Those are my favorite mobile PPC utilities that improve productivity for me.


Considering that today, my largest client just got nabbed with a new worm virus, I am searching for a good WM5 virus scanner. AVG snagged it on my desktop when he sent me an e-mail with an unintentional attachment.

I'm Open to all suggestions but I'm trying to do it with AVG first. Not sure if it will work on WM5 device.
 

New IPODS coming!

Use 2 OS's at the same time?

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